With Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union threatening to extend its strike to “an indefinite period,” concerns are growing over the chipmaker’s productivity. The union is initially targeting less-automated manufacturing lines first and aims to expand its influence to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are critical for powering artificial intelligence (AI).
Industry officials believe that the short-term impact on the company’s semiconductor productivity will be limited, as the wafers targeted by the union have a weakened market presence. However, they added that the union’s threat to HBM chips could potentially slow down Samsung in competitive technological arenas with its rivals.
According to the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), Wednesday, it will extend its strike to an indefinite period as “the company did not attempt to engage in any dialogue” during its three-day strike from Monday to Wednesday.
In its YouTube livestream, the union said its primary goal is “stopping the 8-inch wafer line” and “the next target will be HBM manufacturing lines.”
Eight-inch wafers are commonly used for what chipmakers call “legacy products,” such as power semiconductors or chips for home appliances. Compared to Samsung’s other manufacturing lines for semiconductors used mostly for 추천 high-tech devices, the company’s 8-inch wafer foundry lines are less automated, thus giving the union greater leverage in its collective action against management.
However, industry officials noted that Samsung and other chipmakers have already shifted their main production focus to high-value 12-inch wafers, so the impact of the personnel shortage may be limited.
“It seems like the union is targeting 8-inch wafers because its lines are less automated than other production lines,” a semiconductor company official said on condition of anonymity.
“In the 8-inch wafer lines, the tasks performed by workers do not require a high level of skill, and there could be enough workers that can replace them in case of emergency. Therefore, it is unclear how the attempt will impact Samsung’s overall productivity.”